Nailable metal structural members



A ril 21, 1964 J. M. GWYNNE 3,129,792

NAILABLE METAL STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Filed Aug. 31, 1960 2 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR JacaZ M. fax/yam e BY ddntmfla, 11M zulzafl ATTORNEYS A ril 21, 1964 J. M. GWYNNE NAILABLE METAL STRUCTURAL MEMBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 31, 1960 ,PMALL {INVENTOR z/kaaifl. fizz/gamma BY MM, (M, M ,L a/zz ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,129,792 NAILABLE METAL STRUCTURAL MEMBERS Jacob M. Gwynne, Pipersville, Pa. (11 Hazelwoed Circle, Levittown, NJ.) Filed Aug. 31, 196i), Ser. No. 53,291 1 Claim. (Cl. 189-34) This invention relates to nailable metal structural members, and has for its general object the provision of such a member embodying various improvements upon the nailable metal member described and claimed in my earlier Patent No. 2,664,179, granted December 29, 1953.

The structural member disclosed in my aforesaid patent comprises an elongated web and an elongated flange integral therewith, the flange having a plurality of laterally spaced, continuous, longitudinally extending flat-bottomed nailing grooves, the floors of said nailing grooves being thinner, throughout their length, than the general thickness of the flange, whereby the floors of said nailing grooves may be penetrated by a nail or nail-screw. Such nailable metal structural members are preferably made of aluminum or other non-ferrous metal, whereby nailing through the thinned-out bottoms of the nailing grooves is rendered comparatively easy, similar to nailing into a wood stud.

In practice, in order to reduce costs of all aluminum construction and still retain its fire-safe qualities, the use of steel is indicated.

Attempts have been made, heretofore, to fabricate nailable steel structural members, such attempts having usually taken the form of a laminated member designed to accommodate nails between the laminations thereof. Such composite members are relatively expensive, have limited nailing ability, and otherwise unsuitable for general use and, for these and other reasons, have not gone into widespread use to replace the conventional wooden structural members of residential and other small building constructions.

An object of the present invention is to provide a nailable metal structural member, fabricated of steel or other strong metal, proportioned sees not to exceed the dimensions of the wooden structural members which they replace, yet having provision for penetration by nails or nail-screws so that they may suitably replace most or all of the conventional wooden structural members employed in residential and small building construction. The feature of nailability may be accomplished by slotting, slitting, or otherwise weakening the bottoms of the nailing grooves provided in the flanges of the structural member of the present invention, such slotting, slitting or weakening being discontinuous to provide unweakened portions whereby the required load-bearing capacity of the structural member is preserved. That is, the weakened portions of each nailing groove are spaced apart longitudinally of the groove, the intervening portion of the groove bottom being of standard thickness, the weakened portions of adjacent grooves being staggered so that the structural member is not unduly weakened along any straight line or plane.

The weakening of the nailing groove bottoms may be accomplished by thinning the metal in appropriate areas during the rolling of the member, or by the provision of discontinuous slits the sides of which may be spread by the penetration of a nail, or by prick-punching discontinuous slots whereby the displaced metal is depressed to form depending lips, on either side of the prick-punched slot for gripping a nail; or by forming longitudinally spaced punched-out slots in the bottoms of the nailing grooves, the width of such slots being such as to permit the penetration of a nail, with some deformation of the slot edges, while still exerting a strong grip upon the nail or nail-screw. A further feature of the present invention, to further decrease its cost and to provide for wires, pipes 3,129,792 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 and air circulation through the web, resides in expanding the web of the structural member in such manner as to increase its transverse dimension without increase in weight, so that the metal structural member may replace a wooden member of corresponding dimensions saving the cost of metal equal to the expanded dimension without adding to the expense or total weight of the structural assembly. This. feature, in combination with the nailable feature described above, renders practical the substitution of metal members, according to the present invention, for the conventional wooden structural members employed in residential and other small building construction.

Other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the description which follows, read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a short section of a structural member fabricated according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary transverse section on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing a modification of the nailing slots;

FIGURES 4, .5, 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGURES 2 and 3, showing further modifications;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a structural member as shown in FIGURE 4, to which a wall element has been fastened by means of a nail-screw;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary elevation showing the web of a structural member after slitting and before expand FIGURE 10 is a view similar to FIGURE 9, showing the web after expanding; and

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary elevational view of a structural member of which the flange is provided with transverse nailing grooves in place of the longitudinal nailing grooves of FIGURES 1-8.

In order to facilitate an understanding of the invention, reference is made to the embodiments thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive language is employed. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the invention is thereby intended and that various changes and alterations are contemplated such as would ordinarily occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the structural member thereillustrated comprises a web It to the respective longitudinal edges of which there are integrally joined the flanges 11 and 12. The member falls within the general category of C-sections, the distal edges of the respective flanges 11 and 12 being formed with inturned short sections 13 and 14 respectively, lying parallel to the web 10. The structural member (before expanding) is preferably formed by rolling, the rolls being suitably profiled to produce, during the passage of the member therebetween, the strengthening ribs 15 of the web portion 10 and the nailing grooves 16 of the respective flanges. The walls of the grooves 16 are preferably inclined, the walls of adjacent grooves intersecting to form relatively sharp ridges or apices 17 (FIGURE 2) or being joined by curved portions 18 (FIGURE 7) on the outer surfaces of the respective flanges 11 and 12. By reason of this construction the contact between the flanges of the structural member and any element fastened thereto is essentially along a plurality of parallel lines, such line contact reducing to a minimum the amount of heat transfer which can take place between such member and other element.

Modification of the nailing grove bottoms, to provide the nailable feature in any of the embodiments described and illustrated herein, may take place during the original rolling of the structural member, or during a subsequent operation. As shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 7, the nailing areas may take the form of longitudinally spaced slots 19,

the metal displaced from such slots being discarded. As illustrated in FIGURE 1, the slots 19 of adjacent grooves 16 are staggered transversely, and in this way the undue weakening of the flange, in any transverse plane, is avoided while at the same time a major portion of the bottom of each groove 16 provides the nailable feature. The inclined Walls of the grooves 16 will, of course, guide the point of a nail or nail-screw downwardly to the bottom of the groove, and the slopes 19' adjacent the ends of the slots 19, the metal being somewhat depressed as a result of the punching operation, similarly guide the nail point longitudinally of the groove, in case the nail point encounters an unslotted area of the groove bottom.

The flange 11' of FIGURE 3 is provided with slots 20 which are formed by prick-punching whereby the metal displaced from the slots Ztl is depressed to form depending lips 21 on either side of each slot 20.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 4 the groove bottoms are formed with longitudinally spaced and staggered areas as described above, each such area 22 taking the form of a V-shaped depression or slit extending substantially through the material of the nailing groove bottom.

In the embodiment of FIGURE the metal of the bottoms 23 of the nailing grooves 16 is rolled thinner than the remaining metal of the flange, whereby the bottoms 23 of the weakened portions may be penetrated.

FIGURE 6 illustrates a further variation in which the nailing grooves 16' have V-bottoms rather than the flat bottoms of FIGURES 1-5, the metal of the weakened areas 24 being thinned by discontinuously flattening the inner crests corresponding to the nailing groove bottoms.

FIGURE 8 illustrates, in fragmentary transverse section, a structural member having a flange 11 formed as illustrated in FIGURE 4, to which a wall panel 25 has been secured by means of a nail-screw 26. The initial penetration of the nail-screw has spread the respective side walls of the penetrated slit 22 to form lips 22 which, as the fastening element penetrates further, tightly grip the nail or nail-screw as the case may be.

As seen in FIGURE 9, the web portion of the structural member is preferably slitted as at 27 and, if desired, provided with spaced apertures 28 for the reception of bolts, screws or similar fastening devices, during or subsequent to the rolling operation, the strengthened ribs also being formed during the rolling operation. Subsequently, the web 10 is transversely expanded, to the form illustrated in FIGURE 10, the slits 217 being developed into the spaces or openings 27.

FIGURE 11 illustrates a modification in which the flange 11' is provided with nailing grooves 16" which extend transversely of the flange rather than longitudinally thereof. The discontinuous weakened portions of the nailing grooves 16 may take any of the forms illustrated in FIGURES 26, inclusive, and the outer crests of the nailing grooves may be sharp as in FIGURE 2 or rounded as in FIGURE 7.

In joining structural members such as described above to other structural members, as for example in joining vertical members to the head and sill channel plate members in housing construction, the head and sill members preferably have the expanded Webs of the present invention, but need not have nailable flanges. That is, since the nailable flanges of the vertical members, lying inwardly or" the head or sill flanges, provide the necessary holding grip for the fastening elements, the flanges of the head or sill channel need only be provided with suitable apertures to admit the fasteners to pass therethrough, as by slotting, slitting, punching or drilling in appropriate areas.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A nailable metal structural member comprising a onepiece rolled section having an elongated flange integral therewith and extending longitudinally thereof, said flange being formed of a single thickness of metal with a plurality of spaced, parallel nailing grooves substantially covering and each extending continuously in its outer surface, the metal of said flange being weakened in a plurality of areas spaced along the bottom of each said nailing groove, said weakened areas of each groove being staggered relative to the weakened areas of adjacent grooves, said weakened areas consisting in portions of said groove bottom formed of metal of lesser thickness than the other portions of said flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 772,662 Mallory Oct. 18, 1904 1,964,403 Loucks June 26, 1934 2,425,798 Hall Aug. 19, 1947 2,664,179 Gwynne Dec. 29, 1953 2,685,354 Collins Aug. 3, 1954 2,746,580 Benz May 22, 1956 2,931,470 Brown Apr. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 127,078 Australia Mar. 8, 1948 

